Winter Home Maintenance

Focus on Indoor Winter Home Maintenance Projects While Winter is in Full Swing

We previously posted a quick list of Winter Home Maintenance Tips, and now we’re giving you another one!

Winter Home Maintenance Organization:

Home Office

  • Don’t be a paper hoarder! Purge unneeded paper. Recycle, if you can!
  • Have some extra folders or binders lying around? Create a filing system with color-coding.
  • If you don’t already have a designated file, bin, counter, etc. where you compile all of your mail, pick one and stick with it!
  • Anything that you don’t use weekly, store in a container in the closet to create less clutter.
  • Have a label maker? Start labeling!
  • Chances are, you have some books in your home office. How are they organized? ARE they organized? Some don’t mind how their books are organized, but we recommend organizing by color or alphabetically.

Closets

  • We know it’s hard to get rid of several items in your closets, but you need to learn when it’s time to let go. If it’s outdated, damaged badly, doesn’t fit, or never worn, donate or pitch them.
  • Put up hooks, a rack, or even nails if no one ever goes in your closet to organize your belts, jewelry, and handbags.
  • NO MORE WIRE HANGERS! They ruin clothes and are only meant to be temporary. If the items from these can be folded and put into drawers (sweaters, t-shirts, etc.), do that! If not, put them on proper hangers like plastic, crystal, velvet, or wooden.
  • Go through your shoes and decide what can be throw out, donated, or stored.
  • If you have other things in your clothes closet that shouldn’t be there – i.e. boxed of pictures, old books, a skeleton – take everything out and either store, donate, or pitch.

Toy Rooms

  • What toys have your children outgrown or simply don’t play with? Donate, hand down to family, or pitch! It’s a great idea to do this every season.
  • Label toy bins with pictures to show your kids where toys needs to be stored when not being played with.
  • Instead of the typical giant toy box, invest in some smaller, clear bins to sort toys. This will create less digging around to find a specific toy and ultimately, a smaller mess.
  • If you realize that you don’t have space for everything once you’re well organized, it means there are too many toys. Sit down with your child to decide what to donate, hand down to other family, or pitch!

Basements/Attics

  • Make sure items that can be damaged by extreme cold or extreme heat are properly stored.
  • Organize items by categories. I.e. Christmas Decorations, Family Heirlooms, Out of season clothing, etc.
  • Consider putting in shelving, mounting, hooks, etc. to store and declutter.
  • Label, label, label! Chances are, if you have things in your attic or basement, they are items you don’t see or use very often. With time, you can forget exactly where things are and have to go searching for them which creates a mess and is time-consuming. Do yourself a favor and label by room and if possible, make a list of the contents on the outside of the box. If you have cardboard boxes, write right on it. If not, you can print out pages or use notebook paper.
  • Dust, windex, sweep/mop.

Kitchen Cabinets/Pantry

  • Throw out any expired food.
  • Donate unused kitchen gadgets. Throw out any that need replaced.
  • Dust and clean out shelves.
  • Have a lot of ingredients that seem like oddballs? Use a website like Super Cook to put in a list of ingredients and get instant recipes.

Organize Pictures

  • Chances are, you took several pictures the last couple months from the holidays. If you have digital photos, put them into the cloud, download them to a file on your computer, etc. to reserve space on your devices. If you have printed photos, organize in file albums, frame, or make a scrap book!
  • Have photos you’d like for your friends and family to have? Organize by person/family and send them in the mail with a nice note to let them know you’re thinking of them.

Have some fun!

I was talking with a co-worker who lost his mother recently and he was recalling an early childhood memory about being snowed in. Him and his sister were young, maybe 9 or 10, and for an entire week, they didn’t have school on account of the amount of snow that had fallen.

For the entire week, they played board games, watched movies, ate delicious homemade meals, told stories, and had a great time just being together.

If you find yourself snowed in and there’s nothing that needs to be done immediately, take the time to spend some time with your family and have fun. You’ll cherish those moments later! Winter home maintenance allows you to cuddle up and get cozy with those closet to you!

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